Crisis over recruitment

The profession is facing a serious issue which the members of the Council of the Law Society continue to ignore.

Thousands of students who have passed solicitors’ finals or the LPC have been unable to secure articles.

The society’s own research shows that it is extremely difficult to find articles. White people have only a 47 per cent chance of securing articles, while black students had only a 7 per cent chance of finding articles.

Many people have been unable to find articles despite thousands of applications. Why has the society not taken immediate action to deal with this crisis in the profession.?

We regularly read about how firms cannot afford to pay trainees the minimum wage. At the same time a survey shows that solicitors like to own Mercedes cars and take five holidays per year abroad.

Most of the solicitors I know send their children to private schools. Perhaps it is because of the school fees that they cannot afford to take on an articled clerk?

I graduated in law in 1989 and have been looking for articles ever since. I believe there is a deliberate policy to keep people out of the profession. I have often read in the Law Society Gazette and elsewhere about the “ever-diminishing cake”. Those in the profession do not want more solicitors as their share would rapidly decrease due to increased competition.

The Law Society is not worried about students’ views and wishes to keep practising solicitors happy to the extent that they are taking a bus to every area in the land to reassure them.

If the existing council of the Law Society does not wish to take action to deal with this disgraceful state of affairs, they should consider letting somebody else have a go. I am sure some of them would like to spend more time with their families.

Vinod Sharma

518 Green Street

London E13 9DA